The Good. The Bad. And the Travels.

October 28, 2012November 6, 2013

Twiddledum and Twiddledee

These two German friends are one of the funniest couples we ran into so far on this trip. We met Twiddledum and Twiddledee in a hostel in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Actually, they are called Simon and Markus but I lovingly baptized them Dum and Dee (though they are a much skinnier version of the original duo) – for the smashing duo they make. Let me introduce them to you.

Twiddledum (Simon):Tall, skinny, chatty and bald (although he skilfully hides it with an impressive collection of straw hats). He calls everybody “man) and he’s the living life of the party. Having done all the weed smoking he could in Europe, all the beer drinking possible in Australia and all the opium smoking manageable in Asia, he is now on a coke quest throughout South America. He usually shows up around noon with a wild story from last night (usually involving at least on crazy Australian, various girls and a drug of your choice) and with his wits and charms always manages to still get breakfast. He’s friends with everybody – and I mean literally everybody: The staff, the hostel lodgers and every person he might meet on the street, buying pizza or dancing salsa.

Twiddledee (Markus):Short, skinny, puppy dog eyes and quiet as Twiddledee is talkative. He has been Dum’s travel sidekick for 10 years now and that is about as much information as he will give you. Dee is soft-spoken and almost too timid to say “hi”. There’s a good chance you don’t see or hear him if Dum’s anywhere near him. Dee’s the one who makes sure they check out on time, find their way back home and don’t spend their entire budget on drugs.

Twiddeldum & Twiddledee:I cannot imagine one without the other. Dum’s rare pauses are congenially filled by Dee’s remarks. Whatever one can’t remember, the other one can and vice versa. They come as close to a married couple as heterosexual male friends can get. If you ever run into them (they’re not hard to miss), just lean back and listen – they’re great fun!